what do you guys think the winning score at nationals will be? Mentor has been getting 5cm bonus easily. With that bonus and a 2-3 second time, I predict the winning score will probably be around -15 to -18 with some luck. What do you guys think?

4Head wrote:what do you guys think the winning score at nationals will be? Mentor has been getting 5cm bonus easily. With that bonus and a 2-3 second time, I predict the winning score will probably be around -15 to -18 with some luck. What do you guys think?

4Head wrote:what do you guys think the winning score at nationals will be? Mentor has been getting 5cm bonus easily. With that bonus and a 2-3 second time, I predict the winning score will probably be around -15 to -18 with some luck. What do you guys think?

4Head wrote:what do you guys think the winning score at nationals will be? Mentor has been getting 5cm bonus easily. With that bonus and a 2-3 second time, I predict the winning score will probably be around -15 to -18 with some luck. What do you guys think?

5 cm bonus???? Like cans 5 cm apart?

Yes

Wow, that's incredible! However based on past results Mentor is typically very far ahead of other teams, so the winning nationals score could be considerably lower if they don't make it.

Bazinga+ wrote:Wow, that's incredible! However based on past results Mentor is typically very far ahead of other teams, so the winning nationals score could be considerably lower if they don't make it.

...their entire vehicle fits through a 5 cm gap?

Their coach, as far as I know, interprets the rules as it being legal to knock the cans aside.

Ah ok. I assume they have a backup plan? (have you seen how much they can score without knocking them?)

UserpageChattahoochee High School Class of 2018Georgia Tech Class of 2022

Opinions expressed on this site are not official; the only place for official rules changes and FAQs is soinc.org.

Bazinga+ wrote:Wow, that's incredible! However based on past results Mentor is typically very far ahead of other teams, so the winning nationals score could be considerably lower if they don't make it.

...their entire vehicle fits through a 5 cm gap?

Their coach, as far as I know, interprets the rules as it being legal to knock the cans aside.

When you read the rules, it says the bonus is the distance between the cans before the run and there is no penalty for hitting the cans. So as long as you go between them you can push them apart with your vehicle and apparently this is the approach for many teams.

Their coach, as far as I know, interprets the rules as it being legal to knock the cans aside.

When you read the rules, it says the bonus is the distance between the cans before the run and there is no penalty for hitting the cans. So as long as you go between them you can push them apart with your vehicle and apparently this is the approach for many teams.

It's still rather risky, since you'd have to successfully push them apart and remain on course enough to not cancel out the 5 or so extra points from going so close. I'd be rather surprised if they didn't have a backup plan in case the cans turned out to be too heavy for them to push apart.

UserpageChattahoochee High School Class of 2018Georgia Tech Class of 2022

Opinions expressed on this site are not official; the only place for official rules changes and FAQs is soinc.org.

4Head wrote:Their coach, as far as I know, interprets the rules as it being legal to knock the cans aside.

When you read the rules, it says the bonus is the distance between the cans before the run and there is no penalty for hitting the cans. So as long as you go between them you can push them apart with your vehicle and apparently this is the approach for many teams.

It's still rather risky, since you'd have to successfully push them apart and remain on course enough to not cancel out the 5 or so extra points from going so close. I'd be rather surprised if they didn't have a backup plan in case the cans turned out to be too heavy for them to push apart.

Actually it's probably more like 2 extra points since every 5cm for can bonus is equivalent to one point (or one cm of accuracy) meaning that if they set the cans 15cm apart they would only lose 2 points. I find it hard to believe that it's possible to push apart the cans and gain less than 1-2cm error, especially if the cans are more heavily weighted. A backup strategy is definately a good idea for teams using this tactic.

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